Thank you for the reviews. They may have a trail but can they find them?
HMAS Hammersley, Departing Home Port, Cairns
1029 Hrs Forenoon Watch
Hammersley had sailed about twenty minutes earlier and were now cruising down the Trinity Inlet towards open water.
Kate was in the ship's office with the XO, Charge, Swampy and Dutchy.
"How come we got crash sailed?" asked Charge.
"That's why I need to talk to you all. It's connected with the abduction of Lieutenant Finch." As she expected Kate saw Dutchy's head snap up and he appeared to stare right through her. "We've been asked by the Federal Police to assist with the search. They have reason to believe that she was taken to Cooper's Marina and put on a small fishing charter. The Patrol Boat Service has been tasked with a coordinated search, NAVCOM will issue our search Zone by the time we reach the mouth of the inlet."
"Why are the Federal Police involved?" asked the XO.
"Lieutenant Finch isn't actually her real name, she's Lieutenant Grace Taylor and she is a naval doctor. For the last three years since leaving the Gulf she has been in Witness Protection. I'm not privy to the details of the case, except to say that it was due to go to court in the near future, but every time they got close her location was found and her safety compromised. Sending her to us was a deal with the navy to offer some form of protection."
"Three years, that's a long time to be in Witsec." Charge commented first looking at Kate then turning to Dutchy, "wasn't that the same time you were in the Gulf?"
"Yeah." Dutchy answered tiredly.
Kate continued the briefing to help deflect attention away from Dutchy and his possible connection with their missing sailor. "The important thing now is that the Federal Police think she was taken by the gang working for the guy she's supposed to testify against. The even worse news is that he broke out of jail a couple of months ago and has been on the run."
A knock at the door, drew their attention and RO stuck his head in. "Ma'am, NAVCOM have sent the coordinates for the search area we've been assigned."
Kate took the paper he held out and looked at it as he left. Then handed it to the XO. "X go up take the ship, get us to those coordinates top of the green."
As she handed over the paper he acknowledged the order. "Swampy, check with Bird that everyone gets an early lunch I want all hands on deck as lookouts when we reach the search zone."
"Yes Ma'am." With the XO already making for the door the Ship's medic followed leaving Kate with Dutchy and Charge.
"Charge, give me everything you can from the engines. I want us out there as soon as we can."
"You've got it boss." He answered also heading for the door. And then there were two. Dutchy and Kate.
"You're quiet, how are you doing?"
"She was out here where we could have been looking last night?" he asked.
"No one knew until the Feds scanned all the traffic footage and questioned the Marina staff. We know what we're looking for Dutchy, we will find her. Now my question to you is can you do your job and keep things in control or do I have to confine you to quarters?"
"I can do it boss, you need me. Grace needs me." His tone was quiet but firm. Kate considered it for a moment then nodded.
"Very well then go up and work with the X to get the search grid planned. I'll join you in a minute."
Dutchy nodded then heaved himself from the chair and left the room.
As he jogged up the stairs to the bridge, he felt it thump in his head, which was still sore from the beating the night before. The crew had given him sympathetic looks at breakfast and it was clear he had signs of bruising around his nose and eyes, fortunately the ice packs he'd been given had eased the situation a little. Arriving at the top of the stairs, he heard RO from his desk at the radio console. "XO update from NAVCOM,"
"On speaker RO."
RO informed the caller and flicked a switch and Mike's voice echoed around the bridge. "We've got a lead, Coastwatch have flights up also helping with the search and they've picked something up in your sector, it appears to be a boat adrift. They haven't got a good look at it, but appears to be of a similar type to the suspect vessel."
The XO took the radio mike. "Copy that," he acknowledged, "Do you have the coordinates?"
"Just sent them through to your RO. Board with caution and report back."
Dutchy intercepted the piece of paper with the coordinates and quickly mapped them on to their grid on the map before handing them over to the XO.
"Okay, helm come right ten degrees, increase speed to two-zero-zero-zero."
"Right ten degrees increase to two-zero-zero-zero," echoed the helmsman.
Kate appeared on the bridge and called for a sitrep. The XO turned to her, "Captain has the ship, ma'am we're on course for a suspect vessel within the search grid as advised by NAVCOM. Steering forty-five degrees at revolutions to two-zero-zero-zero."
"Roger that, I have the ship." She answered taking the binoculars and flipping the strap over her head as she sat in the captain's chair. "Time to intercept?"
"At current speed about two and a half hours ma'am" the helmsman confirmed.
"Very well, XO mark the contact." She added and the XO turned to the radar to mark the point on the horizon they were heading towards.
x-x-x
HMAS Hammersley, Off Queensland Coast, just west of Green Island
1351 Afternoon Watch
Taking no chances Kate had sent both RHIBS with the crews in full Kevlar and well-armed, to ensure they were ready for anything. Due to the incident the night before and the remaining concern of concussion Dutchy was at the helm as the boarding party left the ship. He had protested that he was fine, but the shadows around his left eye and chin which had developed during the morning suggested otherwise and he was still on light duties, so Kate had held firm and insisted he stay on the ship.
Kate herself was still coming to terms with the fact that she was now the one to remain on the ship while her crews went off without her, so she knew what Dutchy would be feeling.
After sitting in tense silence for a while they were somewhat relieved when the radio crackled to life. "X-Ray eight-two to Papa eight-two, come in over."
"Papa eight-two go ahead over."
"Ma'am, there is a strong suspicion this is our vessel, there are signs that there were more than one POB, but they're not here now. There is no one aboard."
"Tear it apart, I want to know who was there and where they are now. Where's the skipper?"
"My guess is they either took him with them or tossed him overboard. These guys knew what they were doing, the radio has been destroyed and Swampy found evidence of blood on the fly-deck, which is likely to be the skipper's."
"Roger that, I'll inform NAVCOM. Is there any sign of injury to Lieutenant Taylor?"
"No ma'am, but we'll keep an eye out."
Kate caught the grimace Dutchy gave as well as the kind of ashen colour he turned. It vindicated her decision to keep him on Hammersley. As Kate swapped radios it allowed him a few moments to breathe. He listened as she reported their findings to NAVCOM. A few minutes later RO's assistant arrived with a piece of paper, he hoped it was good news, having looked at it, Kate handed it to him. It was a Coastwatch photo showing a larger vessel, probably a small trawler moving away. The co-ordinates for both vessels indicated that it had been heading north east.
"Dutchy set course to find the trawler."
"Swapping the radio again Kate called out to their crews on the ship. "XO, secure what you can, leave the ship and return to Hammersley, we've got a new lead. Kingston will take over and return it to port via tow ready for the Federal Police. Make sure you mark the log where we found it."
"Yes ma'am." Within a few minutes through the binoculars she watched the crews call in the RHIBS and climb aboard.
Back on Hammersley they set their new course and began following the course the trawler was known to have headed.
The rest of the day passed agonisingly slowly as they followed the trail of the trawler. While it couldn't go any faster the head start the trawler had meant that the ship was continually playing catch-up.
It was late in the evening sometime towards the end of First Watch when the XO and Swampy were on the bridge. The XO was watching the radar as Swampy manned the helm. "Looks like the trawler has started slowing down in the last half hour.
"How far ahead are they?"
The XO glanced over at the radar and EOD, "On the edge of our radar, about thirty-five miles, we've been slowly making headway, I guess they've been travelling about twenty knots, which has let us gain on them throughout the afternoon."
"Do you think they'll still have Lieutenant Finch on board?" asked Swampy
"For now I expect so. But with them slowing down anything could be happening."
Footsteps on the stairs announced the arrival of someone else and soon Robert arrived on the bridge. "XO report just in from NAVCOM. Kingston picked up the skipper a few hours ago, he was shot point blank range. Also, the trawler could be preparing for a rendezvous. There's a vessel been hovering around those coordinates for the last hour. Coastwatch have managed to get two flights over but couldn't get more, other than it seemed to be a high powered speed boat." He handed over the co-ordinates to the XO on a piece of paper.
"Thanks Robert. Is the CO about?"
"In the seniors mess with Dutchy I believe." He answered taking a seat at the radio console and putting on his headphones.
"Swampy you have the ship. I'm going to speak to the CO."
Leaving the bridge he headed for the seniors mess. Arriving he entered and greeted the occupants that also included Charge.
"X, something wrong?" Asked Kate while Dutchy looked up.
"Not sure ma'am. The trawler is slowing down, but an update from Coastwatch reports they're possibly preparing for another rendezvous, but they're still thirty-five miles ahead, I don't think we'd get a boarding party in."
"Unlikely were still too far off to send the RHIBS. If we were twenty miles closer maybe," Kate replied.
"Well we're at full whack, we can't push any harder, I'm already having Two-Dads sit on the gauges to make sure they don't red line," added Charge.
"Dutchy, go take the ship, have Swampy calculate our fastest route to intercept," Kate instructed.
"Yes boss." He got up and left.
Kate turned her attention to the XO again, "Any indication of a vessel they could rendezvous with?"
The XO filled her and Charge in on the other information from NAVCOM.
"Damn, I'm glad Dutchy didn't hear that until we know for sure."
"Ma'am, can I ask is there more to Dutchy and the Lieutenant?" asked Charge.
"It stays within senior sailors only. I'll brief Swampy." Kate began "They were both Petty Officers in the gulf, they used to meet up during shore leave and were due to ship home about the same time, the last time they saw each other was the night she was called to the ship he was on when his boarding officer was killed. The story goes that she was shipped home the next morning with a medevac from another attack that night, her flight crashed. It was a cover to get her into witsec. She gained her warrant through her medical training and was due to go to ADFA on her return. Dutchy was going to apply too when they got home, which would have allowed their relationship to continue. With her late posting to Hammersley we didn't know they knew each other until they met her first day as her records had been heavily redacted. There's a lot more for them to resolve when we get her back, so Charge I want you and Two-Dads to squeeze everything we can out of the engines that we haven't already got. If the trawler does rendezvous with the speedboat and they off load the Lieutenant then we could lose her for good as we'll have no hope of keeping up."
"You've got everything, but I'll take another look."
"Good man Charge," Kate acknowledged as he got up and left, leaving just the XO and Kate.
"Do NAVCOM know about Dutchy and the Lieutenant?"
"They're aware they know each other."
"But not about the relationship? Should we tell them?" the XO asked.
"Not yet. After all this time there may be nothing left of their previous relationship, so why stir up trouble where there is none. Once Kari is free from WitSec then is the time to re-evaluate things."
"You're a good boss, I can see why the crew like you."
x-x-x
Undisclosed Location, Somewhere off the Coast of Northern Queensland.
0330 Hrs First Watch
Kari's first thought was that she was going to throw up, but that was quickly overtaken by the throbbing in her head and the dry leathery taste in her mouth. She figured out she was on her back, but couldn't seem to move her limbs and turn onto her side. The swaying sensation took hold again and her stomach heaved and she really didn't need to throw up because if she couldn't move then she might actually choke herself.
Turning her head she tried to open her eyes, but only found blackness. A sound nearby caught her attention and she tried to focus on where and what it was, however there was nothing that would help her in her compromised state. Another sound pierced her confused brain as she tried to remember where she was and what had happened. Dutchy! She had been with him, so it had to be him she was hearing.
"Dutchy?" her voice was harsh and the attempt to speak sent her head spinning again. She tried again to assess her situation and could feel the strain in her shoulders and figured her arms were above her head. She tried to lower them, but it was like they were tied up. They wouldn't move!
Her mind went back to Dutchy; she'd caught a glimpse of him being punched as someone covered her mouth and pulled her backwards. The scraping sound echoed around her again, the sound of a voice clearing their throat followed.
The sound seemed unfamiliar, not like the man on her mind.
The ground beneath her seemed to dip, like someone sitting on a mattress, "Don't worry kitten, he's taking a bit of a nap from where Midge cracked his head open with a tyre iron." The words were a surprise, the voice rough and menacing, as much by the words out of his mouth as the tone he'd used.
She felt a hand rest on her knee and she tried to kick out only to find, like her hands, her feet were tightly tied restricting her movement.
The man with her chuckled. "Easy girly, we don't want you to hurt yourself."
Kari felt forced to ask, "Where's Dutchy? He'll need a hospital."
"SSShhh, I wouldn't worry about your boyfriend, he got off lightly considering what we could have done to him. You on the other hand, someone's been looking for you for a very long time, word is he's really pleased to have caught up with you at last. He's going to have such a fun time when he gets his hands on you."
As if to emphasise the point the captor rubbed his hand up her thigh slightly. "No one is going to find you this time."
Kari wanted to fidget to fight him off, but she was conscious enough to know that it would be futile. So she resisted with everything she had.
"Oh, Gracie, trying to play dead won't work this time, it's time you learnt from your mistakes," he sneered, gripping her knee hard until the pain in the softer flesh caused her to squeal out.
It immediately attracted the attention of the other captor, "Bob, what are you doing down there? Remember we're not to do anything to her, the man wants her to himself."
At least she had another name, Bob answered, "Don't worry we're just getting acquainted," he called back while caressing her thigh again.
"She awake?" came the response.
"Yeah, she's trying to pretend we don't know who she is."
"She knows alright, I've got bruises to prove it." Midge stuck his head in the cabin and admired the form of the woman they were holding hostage.
"You might want to think again, bozo, I'd have given you the same whoever you were working for."
"We'll see how much bravado you've still got when the top man sees you. For now though it's time you went back to sleep, we don't want you figuring out where we are or where we're going. Logan says you can give her the heavy stuff."
"With pleasure" Bob answered reaching into a nearby case and removing a large syringe with red tape around the cap.
As Midge prepared to leave, Bob leaned over Kari and holding her still plunged the needle into her neck. "Time to sleep now, when you wake up it'll be nearly time to meet the man in charge."
Not knowing what was coming exactly Kari had no time to prepare and was already losing consciousness by the time the needle was removed. Her last thought as she blacked out again was hoping Dutchy would forgive her.
"That should keep her out until we get to the island."
"Good because we're on track our next ride is just coming along side. Bring her." Instructed Midge, finally heading out of the dingy cabin.
Bob rubbed her leg again, "shame I'm not allowed to touch you before Vince sees you. But I'm looking forward to him sharing you around."
He undid her feet from the ring on the bunk but retied the rope around her ankles before he removed her sandals, then moving to her arms. Rolling her over he tied her arms behind her back and standing up dragged her to a sitting position and hauled her over his shoulder.
While not being too careful, he did ensure that he didn't hit her against the walls as he headed out on deck. Vince would not be happy if she was battered and bruised when he met them.
Waiting alongside was a smaller much faster vessel, much classier than the two they had so far been on. This would ensure that they could get the furthest distance in the shortest time as it had a top speed of forty-five knots. Something that would easily outrun any naval patrol boats they happened to meet.
x-x-x
HMAS Hammersley, Rendezvous with the trawler
0518 Hours, Morning Watch
Hammersley had shadowed the route taken by the trawler as best they could. The rendezvous with the speedboat had happened when there was cloud cover preventing any observation by Coastwatch. There were few vessels about which meant that any picked up on radar were quickly identified and they moved on. About ninety minutes earlier the middle watch lookouts had homed in on a vessel which had no transponder and was not responding to hails. The RHIBs had just left the ship to go and investigate. The bridge was quiet. This time after Dutchy's pleading she had agreed to him joining the boarding party. Apart from the bruises, over thirty hours had passed since the attack and there had been no signs of concussion, so Kate let him join the boarding on condition that he did not leave the RHIB until everyone else was aboard the trawler.
The silence was broken as RO clicked his fingers and announced, "Report from Coast Watch coming in."
Kate turned and gave him her full attention, "Have they found something?"
x-x-x
Arriving at the trawler, like the fishing vessel it appeared abandoned but the crew still took precautions in boarding as they couldn't be sure that the ship was truly empty.
Once it had been cleared they began a more thorough search of the vessel. Two-Dads returned to deck having searched below and held up a sandal. Dutchy, who had been confined to deck, practically snatched it from him. "It's what Grace was wearing when they took her. Are you sure she's not here?"
The XO heard him and reached for his radio. "X-Ray eight-two to Papa eight-two over"
"Go ahead X-ray eight-two," came back the acknowledgement.
"Confirmed this is the vessel of interest. We have one of the Lieutenant's shoes."
"Roger that, set a steaming party to take it back to Cairns, whoever it is remind them that it is a crime scene and they are not to touch anything. We'll send over some ration packs to keep them going."
"Aye ma'am." The XO acknowledged as Swampy returned from the bridge, the ships log in her hand.
"X, the logs have not been updated in 3 days."
"Probably because they didn't want us to track their movements. I wouldn't be surprised if this was stolen from somewhere."
"I'll mark the log, do we know what's going to happen with retrieving it?" Swampy asked.
"The boss wants a steaming party, you up for it?"
"I suggest Riggs and Heath, good experience for them, they're pretty reliable and it will keep me with the crew in case you need a medic. We don't know what they might have done to the Lieutenant, we've already got a dead fisherman, but something tells me they want her alive to make a point."
"Good thinking. Make it happen."
The XO left the deck and headed down to the cabin where he found Dutchy searching the place again, tossing things around the cabin where Two-Dads had found the shoe.
"Dutchy, anything?"
"Nothing else, just Grace's shoe," he growled tossing the mattress up in the air against the bulkhead.
"Swampy is arranging a steaming party with Hammersley. There's been no sign of foul play, so that's encouraging. My theory is that Vince wants her alive and he hasn't made the rendezvous yet. The question now is where did they go on the speedboat?"
"We don't know that she is still alive, they may have killed her without making a mess and still tossed her overboard and we just haven't found her yet." Dutchy argued.
"With what we know, she has been a thorn in their side for a long time, criminals like that rarely make the kill quick and clean, they will want her to suffer first, so for now there's a good chance she is still alive. We need to confer with Coastwatch and see if they have managed to track the speedboat, then we might get a hint at which direction they went."
The XO turned to leave the cabin when Dutchy stopped him. "X, this isn't good."
The XO turned around again and noticed Dutchy holding up the syringe with the red tape, which he took and studied for a few seconds. "It may not be so bad, they know she's navy, my guess is that they are keeping her drugged, that way she can't antagonise them or attempt to leave us clues. They'll probably have dosed her to move her to the speedboat." The pair were silent for a moment then Dutchy looked around again, as if hoping for a miracle. "Dutchy we should get back to Hammersley, perhaps there will be a new lead."
x-x-x
With everyone back on Hammersley and the trawler now underway back to Cairns they were steaming slowly north as they waited for news of the Coastwatch review of satellite imagery and other enquiries.
After an agonising wait they finally had the information they needed and Kate instructed the helm to adjust course and speed to race after the speedboat. They were a long way behind with the potential distance the speedboat could cover, but they still hoped for more good news soon.
It was about another hour before they got more information; signs that the speedboat was heading towards group of islands which largely consisted of mangrove swamps. They set course to follow in its tracks as they waited for more news. The wait had been agonising, especially for Dutchy who became more tense, snappy and frustrated as time moved on. Kate knew he still clearly blamed himself for what happened despite her and others best efforts to persuade him otherwise. They really needed to find the Lieutenant soon and hopefully alive.
I couldn't give you an easy resolution. We needed a bit of tension and missed opportunity. I'm sure you can all imagine Dutchy's mood. Will post again soon.
Posted: 5Mar19